Dse141_Tma_03

TMA 03 OPTION A: Drawing on examples from Chapters 1, 6 and 8 of Discovering Psychology examine and assess the advantages of THREE different methods used in psychological research. Introduction In this essay, I am going to examine and assess the advantages of three different methods used in psychological research: interview method, observation method and experiment method. In view of the fact that psychological research is on the whole tested on people and animals, it is regularly the case that the observations or experimental interventions that a psychologist may want to make have the prospective of harming participants and for this reason increase ethical issues. In addition, consequences that might not be openly undesirable for the participants might increase more general ethical principles to do with moral standards and values. Psychologists have gradually more become aware of ethical issues and accepted that psychological research has sometimes been ethically questionable. Therefore, there are many different methods of psychological research including the main three that I am going to examine and assess. Main Body The interview method of psychological research is a conversation with a purpose and is non-experimental design. The interviewer in one on one conversation gathers detailed personal information from individuals using oral questions. The interview is used commonly to increase and extend our knowledge about individual thoughts, feelings and behaviours or how they think they feel and behave. Interviews can give us both quantitative and qualitative data about participant’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours. This is due to the standardisation nature of questions asked. The more structured or standardised interview questions are, the more able you are to get quantitative data. Quantitative data is consistent and easy to analyse. The less structured and free ranging the interview questions the more qualitative your data becomes. Qualitative data is complicated to analyse and is not as reliable. There are two categories of interview, the structured interview and unstructured interview. The key feature of the structured interview is in the pre-planning of all the questions asked. Structured interviews also allow for duplication of the interview with others. You can then simplify what you find out to the population from which your interview sample came. Structured interviews are conducted in a variety of ways: face-to-face, by telephone and the Internet. There are three types of structured interview. The structured interview itself, the semi-structured interview and the clinical interview. A main difference is the amount to which each use standardised and unplanned questions. Standardisation helps the consistency of the particular results and conclusions. The more use of unplanned questions, the less structured the interview becomes. Unplanned natural questions are a key feature of the unstructured interview. Spontaneous questioning is more responsive to the participant. However spontaneous questioning does not allow for a sweeping statement. Spontaneous questions can also be accused of producing invalid results and conclusions. Therefore standardisation versus the free ranging nature of questions is both the main advantage and disadvantage of the interview method of research. The observational method is a non-experimental design. The lack of an independent variable does not allow any cause-effect conclusions to be drawn from observational research. Sound evidence is however important to the observational method. The observational method's most important feature is a standardised, planned, and systematic approach to independently observe and record behaviour. This is to create the most important data ahead which to support any conclusions. Observations, which can be obvious or concealed, are of five main types. • Participant observation • Non-participant observation • Structured observation • Unstructured observation • Naturalistic observation. Each involves the planned gathering, analysis, and interpretation of mostly experimental data on observed behaviour. Each observation has its own features, advantages and disadvantages. For example, Participant observation sees the researcher set up and take part in the observation of behaviour under investigation. Non-participant observation has no involvement on the part of the researcher, with recordings of observed behaviours being taken from afar. The observational method has both advantages and disadvantages as a research design in psychology. Secret observations can be difficult regards ethics and disclosure. Perplexing variables also make the observations difficult. If the researcher plans, structures, and conducts their observation correctly, the observational method can be seen as a most valid and reliable form of non-experimental research in psychology mainly due to the observational method's high ecological validity. The experimental method of research is a controlled method that sees the manipulation of an independent variable (IV) to observe and measure any effect this has on a dependent variable (DV). The important features of the method then controlled, observed and measured of its variables .The use of the experimental method in psychological research enables the experimenter to be more confident about the legitimacy of any cause-effect relationship established between an independent and dependent variable. The experimental method also makes the experimenter more confident about the overview of its results to a larger population. The experimental method's importance on strict procedures helps others replicate the experiment to prove, or otherwise, the original research findings. The experimenter starts off with an unfounded hypothesis and then if the results do not match what originally thought, the person (s) will then accept the experimental hypothesis. In the experiments, there is a chance that any cause-effect relationship established by the acceptance of the experimental hypothesis is because of chance or random factors. These chance or random factors, which can be an alternative explanation for results in psychological research, are called extraneous variables and are of two kinds. Random variables just happen, making them impossible to control, and confounding variables, which can be anticipated and controlled. Examples of confounding variables would be any situational variable found in the experimental setting, such as • experimenter variables, for an example experimenter and expectancy effect • Participant variables, which are those participant peculiarities that can manipulate results. These would comprise of participant expectancy and need characteristics. To control the extraneous variables, the experimental method uses design procedures, which are of two kinds. A related design like frequent measures or matched pairs, and a between-subjects design and dissimilar independent group, sample or measures design. Each category and each type of design has particular features. For example, the repeated measures design, where participants experience all conditions and manipulations of the independent variable can be a magnet for order effect. Counterbalancing can of course control order effect. What design is made is often decided in excitement of confounding variables that can happen in the different experimental situations, which are the laboratory and field experiment. They fluctuate in their location, and therefore the amount of control a researcher has over confounding variables. The laboratory experiment repeatedly attracts criticism on the grounds of ecological legitimacy. The further away from the laboratory a researcher goes however, the more likely that the more ecologically valid the field experiment attracts random and confounding variables. As a research method, the experimental method is definitely the most thorough of methodologies in psychology. Conclusion As the subject matter is either experimented on humans or animals, it becomes rather complex and reactive and so psychologists have to choose how to experiment by choosing from a wide range of methods including interview, observation and experimental. The methods used by psychologists endeavour to maximise objectivity and focus on subjectivities and meanings. Depending on the topic psychologists are researching, they have the choice to take on an outsider viewpoint or an insider viewpoint. Throughout the research progression, psychologists collect data and use it to provide their evidence for their claims. There are four different types of data are used by psychologists from different paradigms: behavioural data; personal accounts of inner experiences; material data such as biological and neuropsychological data; and symbolic data. The research method begins by isolating a suitably specific and answerable question. In a number of studies it then involves choosing the appropriate methods which will offer data to examine the hypothesis underlying the research. A main factor in psychological investigations and experiments is the dilemma of ethical issues so therefore the experimenters have to be certain and cautious on what type of method they choose for their experiment. Word Count: 1,316 References McAvoy, J. (2010) in ‘Chapter 1 Exploring the authoritarian personality'’ In Brace, N. And Byford, J. ‘Discovering Psychology’ Milton Keynes, The Open University Brownlow, C.(2010) in ‘Chapter 6 Making Friends’ In Brace, N. And Byford, J. ‘Discovering Psychology’ Milton Keynes, The Open University Edgar, H., Edgar, G. (2010) in ‘Chapter 8 Paying Attention’ In Brace, N. And Byford, J. ‘Discovering Psychology’ Milton Keynes, The Open University http://www.saskschools.ca/~psychportal/Psych30/ejournal-introduction/research_methods_in_psychology.htm http://psychology.about.com/od/researchmethods/Psychology_Research_Methods.htm http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/devresearch.htm Self Reflection I enjoyed going into detail about what types of methods are used in psychological research and ive enjoyed the module as a whole.